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| Southern tree agama - weird! |
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| Christopher drove us so close to this lioness I would have leaned out the window and stroked her! |
Nevertheless, we do go on holiday and for the past two weeks
we have been away in South Africa with my brother Roger. We spent a few days in the Kruger Park game
viewing with a fair degree of success. The highlight has to be, apart from the
leopard who did not stay long enough for a photo, a herd of elephants including
babies come crashing up to about 20 metres from the deck of our house and then
turn around and crash back ripping and randomly tearing all the vegetation in
their path.
We then visited some parts of South Africa that we had not
been to before. We stayed in a town called Dundee which appealed to us as the
Scottish branch of our family came from there and the money to buy our house in
the Cape originated there. The only reason to stay in the South African Dundee
is to visit some battlefields. We went to two Anglo / Zulu battlefields with a
guide who explained the rather complicated history behind the battles. Overloaded
with information, we were driven back at break neck speed by my brother who
misunderstood how to drive down an unmade-up road full of potholes and running
with water following a heavy storm. He thought speed carried us over the humps
and bumps and potholes but instead it took us crashing and slithering all over
the place and great was our relief to get back on a tarred road.
ith After Dundee I drove us at a more sedate pace across rural
Africa avoiding the worst of the many potholes on the tarred roads but the
scenery was stunning even if the towns we passed through were more reminiscent
of Uganda than South Africa. We finally reached civilisation in the town of
Hillcrest about 35 km outside Durban. It is a beautiful area and our B & B
was fantastic. However the reason for our stay here was to visit some friends
who had moved from Fish Hoek. We had a wonderful time with them and were very
pleased to see how well they had settled into the area. On Sunday we went with
them to Sarepta (which means place of refining) Church. The worship was good
and the message on faith with deeds was timely. We also joined them at their
home group. Our friends showed us round Durban which was excellent and we
talked to a waiter who remembered the Queen’s visit to the area in 1947.
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| Our freinds Norman and Jean Innes, Roger and Christopher |
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| Throwing oneself into the gorge |
We then moved on to Margate, a seaside town south of Durban.
It doesn’t have a lot to offer and the weather was indifferent but we enjoyed
going to the Oribi Gorge which has spectacular views and gives a great opportunity
for the foolhardy to throw themselves off a cliff attached to a thick elastic
band whilst the fearful cheer them on from the cliff tops.
Back in Fish Hoek, we are continuing to show Roger around
the sights here whilst at the same time re-establishing our normal ‘not on
holiday’ life. One area of great concern to the church is the huge amount of
social unrest, anger and violence that is erupting all over the country even in
the relatively peaceful Western Cape.
The church is on their knees and there are prayer meetings all over the
nation culminating in a national day of prayer in Pretoria on December 2nd. Our church has been praying into this
situation both at the prayer meetings and at our Sunday services.
So we pick up our commitments again both spiritual, church
and with bowls and golf. Summer has now arrived and, famous last words, the
howling wind has died down making for very pleasant weather. Long may it last.
